‘I am very well thank you please,’ said a tinny little voice from
inside the box. It rustled, and out came a cat.
Varjak's rst thought was that it looked like Tam, or a cruel joke
about Tam. It had her shaggy chocolate-brown fur and comfortable
look, but everything else was horribly wrong. Like the animals in
the window, it didn't seem real. Its eyes were wide open, but they
were glassy, expressionless. It was smiling, but the smile was
weirdly empty. It talked, but back to front, nonsense.
‘Tam?’ said Varjak. ‘Tam?’
‘Happy, happy, happy,’ said the cat.
Varjak's fur stood on end. ‘It's Tam!’ he cried. ‘Look, Holly –
what's happened to her?’
‘Don't be stupid,’ said Holly. ‘It's a toy.’ She peered closer at the
cat. Its head nodded, bobbing up and down cheerfully. ‘It's a good
one, very realistic. Look at the detail – the fur's perfect.’
‘But it's Tam's fur—’
‘Tam's fur was never so neat.’ Holly snied it. ‘Doesn't smell like a
cat, does it? And listen to it. That's not how any cat talks.’
‘I be your friend forever!’ said the toy, in its strange, hollow voice.
‘Oh, Holly, it's horrible… I'm sure it's Tam!’
Holly wheeled about and faced him, mustard eyes on re. ‘Of
course it's not Tam!’ she yelled. ‘Get it through your head! Tam's
gone, see? She's Vanished.’ There was a moment of silence. Even the
toy cat seemed to be hanging on her words. ‘There, I said it. She's
Vanished. She was a greedy idiot, and now she's Vanished, another
ne friend who's left me. She's not coming back. Ever. Understand?’
Varjak had never seen her so upset. He knew Holly missed her
friend, of course, but she was so spiky and cool, she'd never shown
it before. ‘Are we going to keep looking for her?’ he said softly.
‘Here's your pretty kittycat!’ said the toy.
Holly closed her eyes. ‘No. She's not here. She's not anywhere.
She's Vanished.’ She shook her head. ‘I'm sorry I shouted at you. It's